The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Schaffer, who himself takes a leading executive producer role in the new season between fellow alum David Mandel (Veep) and Alec Berg (Silicon Valley), both squirreling out what time they can between episodes. Schaffer and David have already moved into a “practical” phase of planning Season 9, aiming for a full ten episodes, as with prior years.

As to when the new episodes might get rolling, or even premiere (we’d bet around mid-2017), Schaffer had some encouraging, if cryptic thoughts:

It won’t be long. It won’t be long. Geologically speaking, it’ll be a blink of an eye. Whether the next season of Curb came out one year later, three years later, five years later, 20 years later — detailing the petty behavior of the selfish and the self-serving is an evergreen business.